Share. [30], In 1937, the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan raided La Paloma, an LGBT nightclub. The city cocaine built Miami: 1980s This video is private Why banks love the drug trade This clip of the documentary "Cocaine Cowboys" explores the larger effects of the inflow of drug money (described by local reporter Al Sunshine and others as "blood money") into Miami's economy during the '70s and '80s. Flagler followed up with his own visit and concluded at the end of his first day that the area was ripe for expansion. Between legal defense and juror bribes, Willy Falcon and Magluta paid out about $24 million, according to Corben. One of the officers testified that McDuffie fell off of his bike on an Interstate 95 on-ramp. The titles to the Brickell and Tuttle properties were based on early Spanish land grants and had to be determined to be clear of conflict before the marketing of the Miami lots began. Falcon whose older brother Augusto (Willy) Falcon is nearing the end of a 20-year prison term is accused of playing a major role in a key smuggling ring. Teele was also found guilty in March 2005 for threatening an undercover detective. Miami experienced a very rapid growth up to World War II. "They were a nonviolent organization," he said. So on July 28, 1896, the City of Miami, named after the Miami River, was incorporated with 502 voters, including 100 registered black voters. BH Compliance Published Oct 20, 2021 + Follow Last June 24, the 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo. As IRS investigator Michael McDonald put it: "What we're dealing with here is beyond any imagination. Joseph A. McDonald, Flagler's chief of construction on the Royal Palm Hotel, was elected chairman of the meeting. Contracts were made, shipments scheduled, and pilots hired. Property damage was estimated at around one hundred million dollars. Freedom Tower was built in 1925 and housed the Miami News. Florida has a significant number of drug-related treatment admissions. Now, the government didn't sit idly and allow these drugs to come into the country; they made these smugglers work for their money. In return, she had Papo's father murdered along with 11 members of Papo's crew. [27] This economic bubble was already collapsing when the catastrophic Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 swept through, ending whatever was left of the boom. Gustavo Falcon is believed to be the last Cocaine Cowboy to have been on the run. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Google Maps/Amanda Macias/Business Insider, NOW WATCH: Pablo Escobar: The life and death of one of the biggest cocaine kingpins in history. The unprecendented flow of drug money laundered here attracted national attention last year when the Federal Reserve Bank of Miami reported a $5 billion cash surplus, the largest in the nation. Then cocaine arrived on its shores and nothing was ever the same again. As the Miami New Times points out, Endara had helped Willy Falcon and Sal Magluta set up bank accounts and dummy corporations where they'd launder their ill-gotten funds while he was still working as a lawyer. ", With the staggering amounts of money came ostentatious displays of wealth, violence spawned by greed, public corruption, and a virtual blizzard of cocaine enveloping the city. The couple hired professional treasure hunters and a documentary film crew to comb through the structure before and after demolition for ties to Escobar's cartel. Though spelled the same in English, the Florida city's name has nothing to do with the Miami people who lived in a completely different part of North America. While some "Cocaine Cowboy" factions were involved in the wars, the Falcons and Magluta stayed peaceful, Corben said. By 1980, it was flooded with more than $600 million. Many of these men were victims of the freeze, which had left both money and work scarce. Raul Garces, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. Treasury agents and federal bank examiners have traced deposits made by suspected drug smugglers -- or the money exchange houses that they employ -- to 12 other Miami insititutions. That sort of treason usually comes with harsh consequences, so the U.S. deported him to the Dominic Republic instead. Suspected drug smugglers deposited about $108 million in Miami banks during a one-year period, according to a secret Treasury Department report that traces the flow of money from south Florida to Colombia. Some Miamians were upset about this, especially the African Americans, who believed that the Cuban workers were taking their jobs. Both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions were held in nearby Miami Beach during the 1972 Presidential Election. The sheer amount of money that the cocaine industry generated in Miami in the 80s is just tremendous. John B. Reilly, who headed Flagler's Fort Dallas land company, was the first elected mayor. According to NPR, Gustavo Falcon, brother to Willy Falcon, was indicted at the same time as the other two, but he managed to evade arrest on the day they kicked in the doors to cuff his friends and co-workers in 1991. The report, completed last year, is not considered comprehensive; it is based almost entirely on federal audits of only a handful of Miami's 30 federal banks. [45], In 1992 Hurricane Andrew, caused more than $20 billion in damage just south of the Miami-Dade area.[46]. Some cowboys fought for either of the two top drug lords Griselda Blanco and Paco "Papo" Mejia. On the other side of the war was Luis "Papo" Mejia who created a drug network all the way to New York, according to Gangster Report, and who Corben tells NPR was constantly at war with Blanco. John Egan had also received a grant from Spain during the Second Spanish Period. "We have gigantic targets to work on. By 1570, the Jesuits decided to look for more willing subjects outside of Florida. Magluta went to trial in 2003 and got 205 years later reduced to 195 years behind bars. In the 1980s, Miami started to see an increase in immigrants from other nations, such as Haiti. Luxury car dealerships, five-star hotels, condominium developments, swanky nightclubs, major commercial developments and other signs of prosperity began rising all over the city. They also moved the headquarters from Key West to the DuPont building in Miami, taking advantage of its location at the southeastern corner of the U.S.[citation needed] As the war against the U-boats grew stronger, more military bases sprang up in the Miami area. [2] In 1743 the governor of Cuba established another mission and garrison on Biscayne Bay. [25] The nearby areas of Lemon City, Coconut Grove, and Allapattah were annexed in the fall of 1925, creating the Greater Miami area. Those involved in the supply chain that brought the drugs into the States and ordered or carried out the violence were known as "cocaine cowboys," a termSouth Miami Recovery says was first coined by the police. This was all in the '80s while the Miami drug war was rocking strong. While verifying Escobar's wealth is impossible because of the nature of drug money, estimates of his net worth run as high as $30 billion at his peak. (Orange County Sheriff's Office). He was, after all, her favorite hitman. Two young Miami men, Augusto "Willy" Falcon and Salvador "Sal" Magluta, were ready to take advantage of it. On 10 April 2006, a DC-9 jet landed in the port city of Ciudad del Carmen, on the Gulf of Mexico, as the sun was setting. On March 3, Flagler hired John Sewell from West Palm Beach to begin work on the town as more people came into Miami. They beat him just because he was riding a motorcycle and because he was black. In 1870, Brickell bought land on the south bank of the river. The 12-story condo building in Surfside, Fla., was built in 1981. At the time, Corben added, about half of offshore racers were also involved in the drug trade. USD. Banks were Central National, Continental National, Manufacturers National and Pan American. "Miami at the time was like Dodge City. A 1982 seizure of $100 million worth of cocaine from a Miami International Airport hangar permanently altered U.S. law enforcement's approach towards the drug trade. The mansion had been damaged by fire and was prone to break-ins as it sat empty after its 2014 sale. What it was really like to be in Miami during the crazy cocaine boom Arts Dec 21, 2017 2:21 PM EST In the classic 1983 film "Scarface," ruthless gangster Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino,. By the early 1940s, Miami was still recovering from the Great Depression when World War II started. So much cash was pouring into town from the wholesale and retail sectors of the trade that its sheer bulk presented logistical problems for the banks enthusiastically and unquestioningly accepting it. A local boat captain has been arrested in a multi-million dollar drug bust in the United States. The number of murders taking place because of the drug war had put a serious strain on the Miami-Dade morgue, according to the Miami New Times. Salvador "Sal" Magluta was slapped with 195 years in prison. "This was the biggest criminal in the history of the world. Click here for the map. When English died in California in 1852, his plantation died with him.[17]. 162 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI BUSINESS LAW REVIEW [Vol. In late September, the work on the railroad began and settlers began pouring into the promised "freeze proof" lands. The Colombians made hundreds of deposits in Miami banks in 1978, the report said. Is it true that drug money built Miami? Given South Florida's history during this time and the Prohibition era, Miami might be due for another such "wild west" anytime now. We should be working on them day and night.". Eula McDuffie, the victim's mother, said to the Miami Herald a few days later, "They beat my son like a dog. When the drugs made their way back to Miami, they'd get distributed to stash houses throughout the city, Corben said. In addition, large immigrant communities have settled in Miami from around the globe, including Europe, Africa, and Asia. The products came from outside countries, obviously, but the war itself allowed some of those involved to attain their political aspirations. The popular television program Miami Vice, which dealt with counter-narcotics agents in an idyllic upper-class rendition of Miami, spread the city's image as one of the Americas' most glamorous subtropical paradises. Even amidst the turf wars and cartel violence of South Florida during the Miami drug war, there was still one place that was "the place to be" if you were a drug lord, and that was The Mutiny Hotel. Willy and Magluta were classmates at Miami High School, where both eventually dropped out, Corben said. XI (1981). Most billionaires from other countries own property in Miami or South Florida in general. They hired an all-star legal team, and were acquitted in 1996 on the drug charges. A Russian national was charged with money laundering in connection with a cryptocurrency operation that allowed criminals to mask the proceeds of illegal gambling and drug deals . Many of the settlers were homesteaders, attracted to the area by offers of 160 acres (0.6km2) of free land by the United States federal government. . The train returned to St. Augustine later that night. Teele was also charged in December 2004 with ten counts of unlawful compensation on charges he took $135,000 from TLMC Inc., promising that it would be awarded lucrative contracts to redevelop neighborhoods in Miami. The audits cover transactions made in 1978. If you preferred to keep your weapons on you, the hostess would tuck it up her skirt when the cops came in. On July 28, 1896, Miami was officially incorporated as a city with a population of just over 300.[6]. "[39] A jury acquitted the officers after a brief deliberation. One of the Miami smugglers was particular notable, not only because of the level of violence and cruelty that they employed, but because this criminal, known as the Godmother, was a woman. In 1900, 1,681 people lived in Miami, Florida; in 1910, there were 5,471 people; and in 1920, there were 29,549 people. At roughly 6,500 square feet, the four-bedroom mansion built in 1948 would have been modest for the "King of Cocaine," who was known for garish homes and lavish spending. Parks, Arva Moore. Demolition began Tuesday on a pink waterfront mansion located on 5860 North Bay Road in Miami. The Mutiny Hotel first opened its doors . By 1711, the Tequesta had sent a couple of local chiefs to Havana to ask if they could migrate there. The agreement codified the new U.S. policy of placing Cuban refugees in safe havens outside the United States, while obtaining a commitment from Cuba to discourage Cubans from sailing to America. Most of the deposits mentioned in the Treasury Department Report were made by five Colombian nationals who have alleged ties to drug smugglers in the United States and Colombia. When the first Europeans visited in the mid-1500s, the inhabitants of the Miami area were the Tequesta people, who controlled an area covering much of southeastern Florida including what is now Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the southern parts of Palm Beach County. The individual must be admissible to the United States (i.e., not disqualified on criminal or other grounds). ", Dave Wollard, president of Southeast First National Bank, Florida's largest, said: "When you consider how much money moves through Miami banks ever day, the number of bank transactions and the volume of money, you can understand why it's so difficult to pick out a few suspicious transactions.". Much of Miami was developed with Mob (NY, NJ) money - Mob figures liked the year-round party (boating, etc.) The reason why I'm posting about this movie is because it has great footage of how the Miami and Miami Beach skylines have changed. On July 11, 1979, as NBC explains, a volley of bullets rained through the Dadeland Mall as the type of shoot-out you'd expect to see in an old western film took place in the Crown Liquors store. The documentaries we've already touched on, but there have also been a couple of books and, of course, the drug war has some clear tie-ins to the movie "Scarface," such as the well most of it. It's just that cocaine smuggling is virtually impossible to stop because the countries that provide the drug are so comparatively impoverished that the high profit margin will always allow them to find a way. Musicians and actors were overdosing on it left and right. Medelln cartel traffickers Rafael Cardona Salazar, Mickey Munday, Jon Roberts, Griselda Blanco and Max Mermelstein brought in loads of drugs from Colombia with the help of Jorge "Rivi" Ayala as a hitman responsible for around three dozen murders.[6]. These outlaws included a number of famous names on the scene. You probably know about the "War on Drugs" started by former President Nixon in 1971, but you might not know about the Miami drug war which took place in southern Florida throughout the '80s. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. However, all efforts to resolve it failed for months, resulting in an estimated loss of over US$10 million. Lopez, the alleged leader of Spain's Los Miami drug gang, is thought to have laundered $26.4 million in illegal drug proceeds via the purchasing of 14 condo units from 2001 to 2006 through a . Allman, author of Miami: City of the Future, captured the scene: "In Miami you could refuse to take drugs. Seven defendants including owners, doctors, a manager, and a laboratory representative of sober homes and alcohol and drug addiction treatment centers were charged for their participation in a health care fraud and money laundering scheme that involved the filing of fraudulent insurance claim forms and defrauded health care benefit programs. The two were eventually indicted in one of the largest drug cases in United States history, accused of illegally smuggling 75 tons of cocaine into the country. "The whole world of boat racing and drug smuggling was a very blurry line," said Corben, who's produced two documentaries on other members of the Cocaine Cowboys. During the controversy, Alex Penelas, the mayor of Miami-Dade County at the time, vowed that he would do nothing to assist the Bill Clinton administration and federal authorities in their bid to return the six-year-old boy to Cuba. There are 136 condos inside and most belong to first-time homeowners. He fought the deportation because he feared it would get him killed since, you know, he (and Sal) had been funneling a portion of their cocaine profits to a CIA-backed group of terrorists who tried to kill Fidel Castro, according to The Miami Herald. The term has become popular thanks to a couple documentaries released about the people involved in the South Florida drug scene during the '80s, when narcotics were flooding the streets, including Netflix's documentary "Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami."